Just running some ideas by ya'll. I use our county auditors page, which is a aerial map that shows all the property lines and property owners. I try to target roads that I know, and find where there are culverts and creeks. I also look for corn, as we are in a primarily hay county, so all the coons gravitate toward any corn fields. I'm trying to target coon and mink. I map out stuff on paper and then mark where sets go and everything. This will be my first year running out of a truck.
Anyway, how do you all try to plan out your line? I'm planning on doing several dry runs to scout out my line. We also can prestake in Ohio, so getting closer to season, so that should save some time.

I’m really thinking about my last , dedicated line and how I planned that out . But, it’s going to take me a minute to recall the details. And why .

Look at the maps to get some areas as possibles, but nothing beats driving and seeing it in person. Ive been very fooled by what looks good and also found numerous spots that i never noticed on the maps. Crop rotation helps dictates hot trails in farm country

Not much to your original post..... but I'd seriously consider focusing much more heavily on mink than coon....

Sure sounds to me like you are on the right track.

First and most important. In Ohio you need written permission to trap any privet property. The land owners own right up to the center line of any road. Even under bridges. I'm not trying to burst your bubble but I don't want you to be getting finds for trespassing. Second. Set heavy with DP's in order to knock back the coons or you will find them plugging up a lot of your mink sets. Third. Make sure you have good solid parking or once the weather turns to crap you better have a tow company on speed dial. I do wish you the best of luck.

google earth

I did my scouting for locations to trap in western Ky by driving in the spring when visibility was best (no foliage). I looked for water and very few houses nearby to avoid dogs and then knocked on doors to ask permission. Any treeline between fields in Ky had water, either running or a drainage ditch. Ky had no GIS so driving and knocking was the only option. It was time consuming but also enjoyable.

This is why I'm using the county auditor's page, as it shows all the landowners. I have addresses so I can start getting permission over summer. And yes, DP's are going to be a huge part of my arsenal to try to keep the coons out of my mink sets.

With all the public land, and being that navigable waters and the land below them are public to the mean high water mark, I have not asked permission to trap anywhere since the late 70's (if memory serves).

I have trapped at least 9 different counties in western Oregon. Any place I trap now I have trapped in the past at some point, so I tend to remember all the good spots. Even though over time some of those spots disappear forever from flooding, and at times new ones present themselves from the same.

Must be nice! Here in OH, even if it is deemed a navigable waterway, you have to have permission to stake or place traps in the water. Technically, the state owns the water, but the landowner owns the bank and the riverbed, so you have to have their permission. And, one of the problems here in Ohio is the fact that everything is so broken up. I gone through and mapped out my line, and I think I'll need close to 45 permissions just to run a 40 mile loop. That's about what I can run before work in the morning, if I get up real early.

get a road map try to make your line in a circle(or straight line) without too much back tracking i use to run a line from work to home it worked out basically an animal a day paid for my gas to go too work the line only really didnt work on days off because than i spent an hour on straight run back home